Boston St. Patrick’s Day parade organizers bar gay veterans group

BOSTON — Boston’s mayor is hoping a deal can still be reached to allow a gay group to march in the city’s St. Patrick’s Day parade, even after organizers said they were deceived by a gay veterans group and ended negotiations.

APParticipants march in Boston’s 2013 St. Patrick’s Day parade.

Philip Wuschke of parade organizer, the South Boston Allied War Veterans Council, announced Tuesday that discussions with MassEquality had ended and that the gay advocacy group would be prohibited from participating in the March 16 parade that attracts hundreds of thousands of spectators.

Organizers said in a statement that MassEquality tried to enter the parade “under false pretenses,” and claimed that LGBT Veterans for Equality, an affiliate of MassEquality, was not a recognized veterans’ organization.